The Squirrel a Pest in Fir Plantations. Ill 



THE SQUIRREL A PEST IN FIR PLANTATIONS. 



In early spring squirrels do considerable damage in the 

 Forest of Dean by eating the bark and leaf buds of 

 the young larches. Some days ago my gunman who, by 

 the kind permission of my friend Sir James Campbell, 

 has free range of the Forest brought home to me a batch 

 of squirrels he had shot. All were in fine condition, 

 quite fat, and unlike animals late aroused from the 

 slumber of hibernation, which likely they had not much 

 indulged in during the past mild winter. There were in 

 all six of these squirrels, and they differed a good deal in 

 size, as also in colour ; some being of a much more vivid 

 red, with the coats glossier, than others. On opening 

 their stomachs I found them filled with a greenish sub- 

 stance, so comminuted as to be unrecognisable, though 

 it looked like young larch leaves gnawed to a pulp. 

 Mingled with it were soft masses of a yellowish white 

 stuff, I took to be ants' eggs, also pulped. 



The squirrel, notwithstanding its pretty playful habits 

 and innocent look, is one of the most vicious of quadru- 

 peds, as also the most courageous ; especially the female 

 when the mother of young. At this time, if the nest or 

 " hut " be approached by any one climbing up to it, she 

 will assail the intruder with all the fury of an enraged 

 cat, and has been known under such circumstances to 

 bite people severely. They are equally valiant when 

 attacked by dog or other animal ; and one of my ferret- 

 keeping friends assures me, that a ferret has more diffi- 

 culty in conquering a squirrel than a weasel, and far more 

 than in killing the fiercest rat. The boys who live 

 around the Forest of Dean often gang together, on 

 Sundays or idle holidays, and go in chase of squirrels. 



